The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-11-03
Ohautauqua in 1887.
RESUME OF THE EXERCISES ON THE GROUNDS
DURING THE SEASON. PERSONAL SKETCHES,
ETC.
Il'orcnSnnulnncn of tho IaI1rnnl

RESUME OF THE EXERCISES ON THE GROUND,
DURING THE SEASON. PERSONAL SKETCHES
ETC.
Correspondence of the journal.
CHAUTAUQUA, n. Y, Oct. There is no ma
tion to be compared to the United States fo
It's general summer hegira, and none that offer
such variety of entertainment on so immense
scale. From the Great Lakes to the Whit,
Sulphur Springs, among the Thousand Is
lands, the Adirondacks, the White Mountains
and along hundreds of miles of sea-coast
around every lake and stream, may be fount
the summer visitor. He is not merely a vac:
ton dler, as his sketch block, paint box, not,
book, or pile of manuscript testify. Indeed ~
strong Il national characteristic as the hegr,
itself, is the glowing tendency of living more
for ones self than for society, and to make thu
summer outing contribute something towart
ones own culture, ''to enjoy and to delve
to absorb beauty while turning over large
thoughts AS Charles Dudley Warner says
Nv hat is the good of vacation if it does mo-
give one an opportunity of indulging the tinel
tastesT'
l write from Chautauqua, from whose
shores almost the last wave of summer trave
has receded. Only enough guests remain tt
save the place from look of desertion, bu
soon the sixty or seventy families of ''all the
year round' will be left in sole possession
Here strolls an occasional wanderer, exploring
and investigating like the lonely Thoreau; OF
the steps OF cottage group of merry chill
dren are plating wreaths of the bright leaves
and down by the dock a young couple are
about to start for a sail The hues of the land
scape are Oriental in their splendor. TIL,
browns and ycllows Of the leaves are reflected
the nlaciI of tko la Eo hot Eos
ing and dimpling in the sun. The soft, lumi
nous tones of the horizon, seen through Indiar
summer haze, the hills warm with color an(
suggestive of abundance, the tender blue o
the sky, all show the day in its most graciou,
mood. AS Thackcray said of Berne, ut i,
charming and beautiful without knowing it,"
The Assembly, which recently closed, WA.
the fourteenth in Chautauqua history, and the
most brilliant. Its success was well deserved
for $4,000 were spent On the programme, and
S30,OO0 in Improvement of the grounds More
than 600 persons passed through the gates
but even these figures can give no estimate OF
Chautauqua. When many cross the sea tt
visit it from England, Scotland, and far away
Jerusalem, when Northerners and Southerners
meet rs one, when in its train are numbered
some forty similar assemblies which in turl
are constantly extending their boundarcs-i
seems. indeed, too large. too far-reachlg, tc
be measured by any scale within our know
ledge.
The College of Liberal Arts was successfully
launched this season. with faculty of thirtecl
professors. representing twenty-five of the
leading universities and colleges of the United
States. Tie wide influence of the principal
DIR. Harper. of Yale. and the generosity of the
management, made it possible to bring togcth
er this galaxy of specialists. That the rar,
opportunities offered We're appreciated was
sufficiently demonstrated by the large number
OF students who registered from almost every
state in the Union, and from Canada, Ger.
many, Syria and Japan. On opening week
fine and well attended reception was rendered
the faculty AID students in the handsome new
college building, and the pleasant social houl
marked the beginning of an ''era of good feel
ing An enjoyable feature OF each college
day was the morning chapel service, led by
Chancellor DR.. j. H. Vincent.
The Chautauqua Normal Union, II ith Dr.. A
Z. Dunning as principal, had a larger number
of students this year than ever before. Normal
Hail was crowded and it was necessary to pro-
vide more than Il hundred extra seats.
The personnel Of the programme made an
interesting study, representing as it did me-,
from nearly every field of learning, every pro
fesSion, and many varieties of religious belief
Among the notable ministers was the Rev
Mark Guy Pearse, of England, who made him
self as popular with Chautauqua audiences As
he has with Mr.. Spurgcon's congregation
where he Is accustomed to preach durings the
pastors absence. The quaintness and wit that
characterize his story-books sparkle through
all his talk. AS a conversationali>t he is de.
lightful. abounding in anecdotes of the peo.
pie he has met, and reproduing dialects with q
rare initiative faculty.
Another prominent guest from abroad was
DIR. Fairbairn, president of Mansfield College
one Of the group composing Oxford Universe
ty, England. DR.. Fairbairn is a gentleman OF
simple. quiet, unpretentous manners, yet Il
man of great intellectual clearness and power
who, i'll his lecture on the political movements
and growth of England and Germany in the
several centuries, rs affected by Christianity
created a favorable and most profound impres.
sion on several of the finest audiences ever
gathered at Chautauqua.
Prof. Henry Drummond, known as the auth.
or of Natural Law in the Spiritual World.''
which has attained such wide popularity among
thinking people. has been an extensive travel-
or, and lectured most extensively on his eX-
plorationss in Central Africa. His talks to
Bible students and young people We're sugges-
tive and helpful, and won him many warm
friends. He is a man. slight and straight. with
pleasant voice and quiet manner. In speak
ing OF the Chautauqua idea he said that what
to him was particularly striking, was its pictur-
esqucness. surrounding study with beautiful
sights and sounds.
Take for instance the setting that surrounds
one day-Commencement. Troops of little
las>es with brimming baskets of flowers; gor-
gcous decorations in Amphithcater and hall; 4
golden gate; floral arches; Athenian watch
fires, whose flaming tongues make weird shad-
ows among the classic columns of the hall
fairy lamps cleaning like glow worms in the
flower borders; fantastic lanterns hanging from
porch and tree on every side; an illuminated
fountain cleaning and sparkling with gayest
colors; and strains of delicious music floating
over the water.
All this light and beauty passed with the
closing of the Assembly, but the spirit that an
imatcd it still lives in the Chautauqua Literary
and Scientific Circle; and this great home col
Iege ''with all outdoors for school-housc''
finds 100000 students ready to answer the roll
call with "On hand, and ready for good years
work of solid studv.' MINNIE A, BARNEY,